


what we leave behind

by tobedecided



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 06:47:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14467245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tobedecided/pseuds/tobedecided
Summary: She sat in silence.It was eerie how familiar the scene was. How it echoed where they were six years ago.





	what we leave behind

He woke with her arms wrapped around his. 

God, he was so lucky. Waking up with Pepper by his side, day in and day out. Never taking anything for granted. He allowed himself to lay there for just a few more minutes; he figured he deserved as much. Mornings like this used to be rare.

Now fully awake, Tony managed to maneuver himself out of Pepper’s hold without causing her to stir much. After all, she was used to him waking up at odd hours.

Quietly, he made his way into the bathroom to start his usual Saturday morning routine. He took his time shaving, making sure to perfect his signature goatee. After drying his face, he took a moment to observe himself in the mirror — rubbing his hands over his finished work, taking account of the grey he hadn’t given much thought to.

Fine lines tucked themselves in the corners of his eyes and mouth.

Damn, he was getting old.

No. He _is_ old. Older. Does that make him any wiser? Perhaps.

Wisdom can be a burden. As a self-proclaimed futurist, he knows this all too well.

After a moment, he gets a fresh paper cup and pours some mouthwash into it before swirling it around in his mouth. He tosses the cup into the trash bin.

Randomly, he thinks they should probably stop using disposable cups. What’s that new millennial trend going around? Zero waste? He observed the bin again and noticed a weeks worth of those cups and white and pink rectangle box that should really have been in the recycling — _wait_.

Hold on. Is that what he thinks it is?

Tony spit out the mouthwash and considered the situation before him, his mind racing. Oh god. Oh shit. Pepper would’ve said something if she was pregnant. Is that why she offhandedly mentioned making dinner reservations the other day? Was she preparing to tell him tonight?

Is he going to be a dad?

Tony felt his eyes burn. They had talked about kids on more than one occasion. Given his line of work, their hesitation was not unjustified.

But he was ready this time. He had assured Pepper as much, considering her's would be the ultimate decision.

It didn't take long before curiosity got the best of him, leading to a ridiculous sight: Tony Stark rummaging through a bathroom trash bin for a pregnancy test.

He dumped the contents of the bin on the tile floor and began searching. Tony didn’t find the piss stick, or whatever it’s called. Did Pepper want to show it to him? The piss stick? Was that a thing people did? He didn’t know what was normal.

Dissatisfied with his results, Tony began filling the trash again — first by picking up the rectangle box in question.

Well, _shit_. He felt stupid.

That elated feeling of pure hope coupled with fear and excitement at the thought of bringing a child into the world dissolved as quickly as it came. What he was left with was only a longing for such thoughts.

He threw the empty eye cream box back into the trash.

He sat there for a good while before realizing how absurd the whole situation was. He also made a mental note on the importance of reading labels.

Tony stood up, collecting the stray cups that fell out of the bin to hide any evidence of his embarrassing miscalculation. He sighed, but it wasn’t out of relief.

* * *

 

Later, he’s at the kitchen table with morning smoothie and StarkPad working on Pepper’s wedding present. In the background he hears their bedroom door open.

He quickly pushed aside the tablet and reached for one of Pepper’s books from the other side of the table.

“Good morning.” Pepper walked over to kiss him. “You were up early. Working on a project?” She noted the tablet within his reach.

“Just working on a suit,” Tony said. He wasn’t lying.

“How do you like it?” Pepper gestured to the book, a biography on Elon Musk.

“Oh this?” Tony holds up the book in one hand, smoothie in another. “I’m just looking at the pictures.”

“Don’t get any kale on it,” Pepper warned. “It’s my only signed copy.”

“Am I correct in understanding that statement to mean you own more than one copy of this man’s biography? How many copies of _my_ biography do you own?”

Pepper rolled her eyes, making sure to exaggerate the gesture.  “First, you don’t have an official Stark-approved biography. You said you didn’t want one. And two, yes, I have a few different copies. Some are advanced copies from the publisher.”

“Why’s that, Ms. Potts?” Tony raised a brow.

“Well, Mr. Stark,” Pepper placed a hand one his shoulder as she reached for the book. “If you began with the foreword instead of the pictures in the middle of the book, you’d have your answer.” She turned to the front of the book, a few pages past the personalized note to Pepper.

“Ah! Here we are.” Tony cleared his throat as he prepared to read out loud the header. “ _Foreword by...Tony Stark_.”

“Oh, would you look at that!” Pepper announced. She reached over and placed a kiss on his forehead.

“Odd. I don’t remember writing a foreword for Musk. Do I have a ghostwriter? Is it the guy who wrote the _Alexander Hamilton_ biography? Because I want it to be him.”

Pepper winked. “You’re looking at her.”

Tony took her hand in his. “You did a fantastic job,” he beamed.

She narrowed her eyes. “And you know that how? I thought you only looked at the pictures.”

“Oh yes, I did. But there’s only one person who knows me better than I do, and that’s you.”

Pepper smiled. Joy shining in her eyes. “I love you.”

Tony pretended to wipe sweat from his brow. “Oh, thank god! I love you, too! Say, why don’t we get married?” he added, jokingly.

Pepper held up her left hand to showcase her engagement ring. “What a fantastic proposition.”

Tony rested his hands on her shoulders. “Actually… this is real-talk now, no funny banter." He waited a second to collect himself before continuing; he wanted to get this right. "I’ve been thinking about this. Have you ever thought about us just going down to the courthouse and having everything all said and done?”

Pepper reached up and put her hands on top of his. “You mean a courthouse wedding?”

“Yes! One of those! I know it’s last minute, and we’ve — you’ve,” Tony corrected, “been planning an amazing reception and everything but Pep, I don’t want to wait anymore.”

Pepper tilted her head. “Where’s this all of this coming from?”

“Nowhere! I’m just god awful at waiting. Hon, you know I can barely wait 30 minutes for my Postmates delivery of mozzarella sticks at two in the morning. I would have no issue with going downtown right now with Happy as our witness,” Tony said, in all seriousness.

Pepper held the side of his face. “Tony, it’s Saturday. The courthouse is closed.”

Tony blinked. How’d he miss that?

“Hey, it’s okay,” Pepper said calmly as he raised his eyes to meet hers. “33 days. That’s it. You think you can make it?”

“I'll do my best, Ms. Potts," Tony said with a smile. He paused to finish the rest of his smoothie. “What an amazing start to a Saturday morning! In a mere 33 days, I’m going to be marrying my ghostwriter and I just found out I’m a published author.”

“Tony, I don’t think it works that way.”

“I hope you negotiated a solid commission deal,” Tony said, pretending not to hear her. "You know we need to pay for this extravagant wedding somehow.”

“Very funny.” Pepper knew this was all in jest. Their wedding group was only a small number of fifty guests; most, if not all, were friends and family of the bride.

Tony walked over to the kitchen and put his empty smoothie cup in the dishwasher.

“Hey, you up for a run?” Tony asked.

“Sure. Central Park?”

“Sounds like a plan. Why don’t we wear those—”

“Nope. No, I won’t do it,” Pepper interrupted as they retreated to their bedroom closet.

“Oh come on, Pep! Tons of couples wear matching athleisure!”

* * *

 

A half an hour later and both of them were dressed, matching outfits and all. As Pepper finished tying her shoes, Tony went towards his side table drawer.

“You’re really bringing it on a run?” Pepper asked from behind.

Tony felt his face heat up. “I...uh. I don’t know.” He held Steve’s old-man flip phone in his hands. He opened it to reveal the battery charged to 100 percent. It’s unsurprising; he never lets it drop below 80, which isn’t too demanding considering the age of the model. With those dinosaurs, the battery can last for days in standby without any charge.

“It’s been two years, Tony.” Pepper stated without any judgement.

“I know.” Tony bit his lip as he placed the phone back in the drawer. “Ready?”

Pepper nodded. “Happy’s waiting in the car.”

As they reached the garage level and the elevator doors closed behind them, Tony paused.

“Hey, I just realized I grabbed the wrong glasses.”

“What’s wrong with the one’s you’re wearing?” Pepper asked.

“Hon, I need my polarized lenses. Have you seen today’s UV Index? You know how sensitive my eyes are.”

“Alright, but be quick. I need to be back to the Tower before my conference call at three.”

“Got it. I’ll be right back.” Tony pushed the elevator button and stepped into the open car.

A few minutes later and Tony returned to the garage level with his polarized sunglasses. These glasses, like most in his collection, were proprietary StarkTech — allowing him access to a modified display of FRIDAY’s UI on the lens.

“Morning, Boss,” Happy greeted as Tony slid into the backseat of the black SUV. “Pepper said you forgot your Snapchat glasses.”

Pepper's laughter filled the car.

“Happy, I’m insulted,” Tony held a hand to his chest, feigning a wound. “Give me some credit, these are a little more advanced.”

“You said they have a camera in them,” Happy explained. “Just like the Snapchat ones my nieces have.”

“I’ll entertain your commentary on technology once you master FaceTime.”

“Fair enough.”

Soon, they reached their destination. Happy pulled up to the curb and dropped Pepper and Tony off at their usual spot in Central Park.

“See you in an hour, Boss,” Happy said before the doors were closed.

With that, Pepper and Tony took off on their normal route. Tony didn’t let the significance of that statement go unnoticed. The fact that they had a weekend routine and were able to actually maintain it meant they had finally achieved a sense of normality that had been missing from their lives. Or about as much normality as a superhero-philanthropist and a CEO of a multinational corporation can have.

After a decent amount of running, they conveniently finished their course a few blocks from their favorite coffee shop.

Tony glanced at his watch as Pepper pulled out her phone to check any missed calls. Happy wouldn’t be picking them up for at least another 15 minutes.

“Hey, Pep?” Tony spoke up.

“Hm?” Pepper looked up from her phone before placing it back in her jacket pocket.

“Let me tell you about this crazy dream I had last night. It felt so real…”

* * *

 

**Epilogue**

 

She sat in silence.

It was eerie how familiar the scene was. How it echoed where they were six years ago.

She held their TV remote in one hand, her cell phone in another. Pepper wasn’t sure why they still had a TV remote. After all, FRIDAY controlled the house just as JARVIS did. A TV remote was quite unnecessary.

Yet there was something to be said for the simple act of being able to turn off the news coverage of the damage to Midtown and her missing fiancé without the aid of excess technology. Perhaps it allowed her to fulfill the need for some sense of agency in a situation in which she had no control.

Pepper discarded the remote and phone on the couch and made her way into the bedroom. She sat on his side of the bed for quite some time. Her mind racing through a dozen emotions all at once. Her eyes burned with fresh tears as she realized she would be going to bed alone tonight. She wondered if that was selfish. After all, a quarter of Manhattan is burning and aliens just invaded Earth. And despite all the pain it gives her, she understands Tony is where he needs to be — avenging.

She eventually stands up and wipes away the tears. Realizing the need for a tissue, she opened Tony’s side drawer table to retrieve the box he keeps. She knows she’ll need it.

He must have moved the box back in the bathroom because it was missing from the drawer, along with Steve’s phone.

_“Hey, I just realized I grabbed the wrong glasses...I’ll be right back.”_

Pepper smiled at the memory of that morning, thankful for Tony’s stubbornness despite everything.

She retreated to the kitchen for coffee. It was going to be a long night.

Sitting at the kitchen table, Pepper flipped through random pages of Elon Musk’s biography they left on the table earlier. She wasn’t concerned with focusing on the words, rather, it just kept her hands busy and away from her phone. She knew the only call she was expecting wouldn’t be coming tonight.

After some time, Pepper glanced at her wrist to check the time. Upon seeing the watch absent, she remembered taking her StarkWatch off earlier as to avoid messages from media outlets and the Board. Of course, that was only after she had finished coordinating the Stark Foundation's relief efforts for the affected parts of the city.

She saw Tony’s tablet on the table and reached for it. With her fingerprint, she unlocked the screen to view the time, however, she couldn’t help but avoid the applications Tony had left open that morning.

One was a document with a file name vows.v.12. The other was RESCUE.mk.1.

She quickly saved and exited the first file without lingering on the words. The only way she would allow herself to know it's contents would be when they’re being read to her by the man who wrote them.

She maximized the second file.

As the last of her tears dried, Pepper allowed herself a small smile. “Oh, Tony.”

 _“You were up early. Working on a project?”._  
  
_“Just working on a suit.”_

The suit wasn’t for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright so Infinity War has fucked me up.
> 
> This was my first shot at writing a fic in over a year (whoops). Bear with me as I get ~re-accustomed~ :) :)
> 
> Thoughts/feedback is always appreciated! + prompts, too! I think I still have tumblr...if I find it i'll post it!


End file.
